System and method of obtaining smoking topography data

ABSTRACT

An exemplary smoking topography circuit of an electronic aerosol smoking article, includes at least one sensor configured to measure user interaction with the smoking article, a processor, and memory. The processor is configured to detect a smoking event based an output of the at least one sensor, collect data associated with the smoking event, and arrange the data in a pattern that associates the smoking event to shifts in battery voltage. The memory is configured to store the data pattern in a structured multi-byte format.

RELATED APPLICATION

This application is a Continuation of U.S. application Ser. No.14/205,717, filed on Mar. 12, 2014, which claims priority under 35U.S.C. § 119(e) to U.S. Application No. 61/800,226 filed on Mar. 15,2013, the content of each of which is hereby incorporated by referencein its entirety.

FIELD

This disclosure relates to an electronic aerosol smoking article, andparticularly to a system and method of obtaining smoking topography datafrom an electronic smoking article.

WORKING ENVIRONMENT

Smoking articles including electronic cigarettes or e-cigarettes use aliquid as the aerosol-forming substrate reduce secondhand smoke, whilepermitting a smoker to selectively suspend and reinitiate smoking. Thesedevices can include a cartridge that contains the aerosol formingsubstrate. The substrate can come in various forms such as a solid orliquid and releases an aerosol gas to the smoker following theappropriate application of heat through a heating element. The heatingelement is powered through a power supply, such as a battery. Theheating of the aerosol substrate is triggered via e-puff sequenceinitiated by the user.

Various systems have been described which collect data based on thesmoking topography of the individual. For example, US 2012/0291791discloses a nicotine delivery reduction system having a breath monitorthat tracks nicotine solution usage, usage frequency, and breathcharacteristics. A flow controller is used to regulate the levels ofnicotine or nicotine solution provided to a user based on monitored userhabits and characteristics. US 2011/0036346 discloses a personalinhalation device that includes a logic circuit that can be programmedto limit an amount of nicotine media atomized during a puff, and theminimum time interval between activations of the atomizing device, forexample. The logic circuit can be programmed to retain device operationinformation such as puffs per day, puffs per minute, cartridges used,average use, and other usage information as desired. The collected datais stored in memory and can be later downloaded to an external device.

US 2011/0265806 is directed to an electronic smoking article thatincludes a controller that carries out various operations on the deviceand a memory that stores instructions to be executed by the controllerand may store usage information, product information, and userinformation. For example, the usage information can include a smokingliquid level in the container, how many containers have been consumed,and an amount of nicotine consumed. The product information can includea model number and serial number; and the user information can includename, sex, age, address, job, educational background, interests, andhobbies among the information. This data can be stored in memory untildownloaded through any suitable wired or wireless connection.

SUMMARY

The exemplary embodiments of the present disclosure provide severaladvantages over known systems in that the smoking topography device ofthe present disclosure includes a processor that is configured to lookat shifts in battery voltage to determine when smoking events occur.That is, each puff event on an electronic cigarette drains a portion ofcharge from the battery, which causes a shift in the battery voltageover the duration of the puff event. Thus, the timing, length, andduration of the puff events can be monitored and recorded around thesevoltage shifts. Data is collected during the smoking events to monitordevice operation and user habits. The data is collected and stored inmemory in a structured data pattern and can be later transferred to anexternal device over a USB or wireless connection for further analysisor processing.

The data can be recorded in a hexadecimal format or other suitableformat as desired, output through wired or wireless means to an externaldevice and used in clinical studies to monitor smoking topography,and/or to inform smoker of usage. Further, the data can be used tooptimize device performance, or calibrate the device based on smoker'susage patterns. For example, the data may be used to optimize devicefunctions such as power modulation, fluid delivery rate, batteryvoltage, so as to optimize sensory experience and/or extend battery lifeor heater life.

An exemplary first embodiment is directed to an electronic aerosolsmoking article, comprising: at least one sensor configured to measureuser interaction with the smoking article; a processor configured todetect a smoking event based an output of the at least one sensor,collect data associated with the smoking event, and arrange the data ina pattern that associates the smoking event to shifts in batteryvoltage; and memory configured to store the data pattern in a structuredmulti-byte format.

An exemplary second embodiment is directed to a smoking topographycircuit of an electronic aerosol smoking article, the circuitcomprising: at least one sensor configured to detect user interactionwith the smoking article; a battery configured to supply power to thesmoking article; a processor configured to detect a smoking event basedon output of the at least one sensor, collect data associated with thesmoking event, and arrange the data in a pattern that associates thesmoking event to shifts in battery voltage; and memory configured tostore the data pattern in a structured multi-byte format.

An exemplary third embodiment of the present disclosure is directed tomethod of generating smoking topography data for an electronic aerosolsmoking article including at least a battery, a heating element, and aprocessor, the method comprising: determining an occurrence of a smokingevent through at least one sensor that measures user interaction withthe smoking article; capturing a battery voltage at a start and an endof a smoking event; and generating a data structure that defines thesmoking event with respect to a change in battery voltage at the startand end of the smoking event.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

Exemplary embodiments of the present disclosure are described in moredetail with reference to the attached drawings.

FIG. 1 illustrates an exemplary electronic aerosol smoking article inaccordance with an exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure.

FIG. 2 illustrates features of a smoking topography device (STD) 112 inaccordance with an exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure.

FIG. 3 illustrates a method for generating smoking topography data inaccordance with an exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure.

FIG. 4 illustrates a data format and structure in accordance with anexemplary embodiment of the present disclosure.

FIG. 5 illustrates an example of smoking topography data as recorded inmemory for a single smoking event in accordance with the method as shownin FIG. 3 in accordance with an exemplary embodiment of the presentdisclosure.

FIG. 6 illustrates an example of smoking topography data recorded inmemory for consecutive smoking events in accordance with the methodillustrated in FIG. 3 in accordance with an exemplary embodiment of thepresent disclosure.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Exemplary embodiments of the present disclosure are directed to anelectronic aerosol smoking article having a capability to collect,store, and transmit smoking topography data to an external device suchas a computer, workstation, processor, or other suitable device asdesired. The smoking article includes on board non-volatile memory(e.g., flash memory) and a processor, such as a programmable logicdevice, configured to collect smoking topography data such as puffcount, puff duration, puff volume and air flow through variousintegrated sensors. The processor can be configured to transmit thecollected data over a wired or wireless interface, such as Bluetooth ora Universal Serial Bus (USB) connection, to the external device.

FIG. 1 illustrates an exemplary electronic smoking article (e.g.,electronic aerosol smoking device (EASD)) 100 in accordance with anexemplary embodiment of the present disclosure. The EASD 100 includes ahousing 102 having a first end 104 and a second end 106. The first end104 includes a mouthpiece 108 configured to be engaged by the mouth of auser. The first end 104 also includes an aerosol forming substrate 110disposed therein and connected to release aerosol vapors or gas to theuser via the mouthpiece 108. The aerosol-forming substrate 110 caninclude a material comprised of tobacco and volatile tobacco flavoredcompounds that are released from the substrate upon heating. Theaerosol-forming substrate 110 can be implemented in any of a number ofknown forms. For example, the aerosol-forming substrate 110 can be asolid substrate comprised of any combination of: powder, granules,pellets, shreds, spaghettis, strips or sheets, all of which can includeone or more of: herb leaf, tobacco leaf, fragments of tobacco ribs,reconstituted tobacco, homogenized tobacco, extruded tobacco, andexpanded tobacco. The solid substrates can be provided on or embedded inany type of suitable thermally stable carrier. In an exemplaryembodiment, the aerosol-forming substrate can be a liquid substrate thatis retained in any type of known container or porous carrier material.In another exemplary embodiment, the aerosol-forming substrate 110 canbe a gas substrate, or any combination of the exemplary aerosol-formingsubstrates already described.

The second end 106 of the housing 102 can include a smoking topographydevice 112. The smoking topography device 112 can be connected to theaerosol-forming substrate 110 in the first end 104 of the housing tocontrol the release of aerosol from the aerosol-forming substrate 104and to collect data associated with the release of the aerosol and useof the EASD 100.

FIG. 2 illustrates features of the smoking topography device (STD) 112in accordance with an exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure.

As shown in FIG. 2, the STD 112 includes a processor 200, a plurality ofsensors 202, a power supply 204, a heating element 206, a chargingcircuit 208, and a communications link 210. The processor 200 can beimplemented as a programmable logic circuit, a multi-functional logicchip (MFL), or any other suitable programmable controller ormicrocontroller device as desired. The processor 200 can be configuredto detect a smoking event based on a change in the battery voltage,control the heating element 206 to heat the aerosol-forming substrate110, and generate a data set based on smoking topography data collectedduring the smoking event. In an exemplary embodiment, one smoking eventcan include a puff request event in which the user engages the first end104 of the housing 102 to effect release of aerosol gas from themouthpiece 108. Another smoking event can include a puff release eventin which the user disengages the first end 104 of the housing 102thereby stopping the release of aerosol gas from the mouthpiece 108. Inanother exemplary embodiment, the smoking event can include acombination of a puff request event and a puff release event.

The processor 200 can be configured to include an analog-to-digital(A/D) converter 212 and memory 214. The analog-to-digital (A/D)converter 212 that converts analog data received from any of theplurality of sensors and converts it to digital data. The memory 214,such as a non-volatile Serial Flash memory or other suitable memorydevice as desired, is configured to store the smoker behavior dataconverted by the A/D converter 212. The memory can be of sufficient sizeto store the collected data in multiple data bytes and in a hexadecimalformat. The processor 200 is configured to control all operations of theSTD 112, such as triggering the heating element 206 to heat the aerosolforming substrate 110, on/off states of the LEDs 216, and otheroperations to be discussed in further detail below. For example, theprocessor 200 can be configured to include a system clock (CLK) fortracking the time passed since the initialization of the EASD 100. Theprocessor 200 can also be configured to include various counters(Timer0, Timer1, Timer2, . . . , TimerX) for recording a length, timeinterval, or duration of a smoking event, a non-smoking time intervalbetween smoking events, or a time after initialization of the EASD 100and leading up to a smoking event.

The processor 200 can include various other counters (CNT), which can beused to monitor and/or track a number of smoking events (EN) that haveoccurred. Moreover, the processor can be configured to include any of anumber of registers (REG) that can track a status of the system orvarious components in the system, such as the sensors 202. For example,a battery register (BATTREG) can be configured to record a status of thebattery voltage such that a high (1) or low (0) status is recorded basedon the voltage level in comparison to a predetermined threshold (e.g.,3.3V). In another example, a smoking status register (SSREG) can beconfigured to record a status of the EASD 100 during a smoking event asa puff begin status or puff release status. The processor can include aStart of Puff Cigarette Battery Voltage Counts register (SPVCREG) thatrecords a value of the battery voltage level at the instant a puff startevent is detected. The processor 200 can also include an End of PuffCigarette Battery Voltage Count register (EPVCREG) that records a valueof the battery voltage level at the instant a puff release event isdetected. It should be understood, that any number of registers can beemployed to obtain and/or collect data necessary or desired in trackingor monitoring smoking topography.

The plurality of sensors 202 can be configured to measure variousfunctions and operations of the device during a smoking event. The datacan include smoking puff length, puff frequency, puff power activity,puff count, air flow rate, or any other smoking topography data relatedto the smoker as desired. In an exemplary embodiment of the presentdisclosure, the sensors 200 can be integrated into the structure of theprocessor 200. In another exemplary embodiment, the at least one of thesensors 200 can be external to the processor.

The power supply 204 can be implemented as a battery or power cell,which supplies power to the heating element 206. The power supply 204can be in the form of a Lithium-ion battery or any suitable variantthereof. In another exemplary embodiment, the power component 204 caninclude a Nickel-metal hydride battery or a Nickel cadmium battery orfuel cell. The power supply 204 can be recharged via the chargingcircuit 208. The charging circuit 208 can be configured to receive powerfor charging the battery 204 through the communication link 210. Viapower converters or other suitable devices, the power supply 204 can beconfigured to provide power at an appropriate voltage level (e.g., 3.3V)to the processor 200.

The heating element 206 can be configured to include a single element oran array of heating elements. The heating elements 206 can be arrangedwithin the EASD housing 102 so that appropriate heat can be applied tothe aerosol-forming substrate. The heating element 206 can include anelectrically resistive material such as semiconductor materialsincluding doped ceramics, electrically conductive ceramics, carbon,graphite, metals, metal alloys, composite materials made of ceramic andmetallic materials, or any other suitable electrically resistivematerial as desired. In an exemplary embodiment, the heating element 206may comprise an electrically resistive coil which cooperates with afilamentary wick, such as described in U.S. published application2013/0192615. In another exemplary embodiment, the heating element 206can include an infra-red heating element as described in U.S. Pat. No.5,514,630 (hereby incorporated by reference in its entirety), aninductive heating element as described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,613,505(herein incorporated by reference in its entirety), a heat sink or heatreservoir as described in EP 0 857, 431, or any other suitable heatingcomponent as desired. The heat reservoir can be comprised of a materialcapable of absorbing and storing heat and releasing the heat over timeto the aerosol-forming substrate. The heat sink or heat reservoir can bein direct contact with the aerosol-forming substrate and can transferthe stored heat directly to the substrate. In other knownimplementations, the heat stored in the heat sink or heat reservoir canbe transferred to the aerosol-forming substrate via a heat conductor,such as a metallic tube, as described in WO 2008/0154441. In anyexemplary configuration, the heating element 206 is configured totrigger a heating cycle of the aerosol-forming substrate 110 based on acontrol signal received from the processor 200.

The communication link 210 can be configured to provide a bi-directionalwired or wireless connection to an external device. In a wiredconfiguration, the communication link 210 can be a Universal Serial Bus(USB), a Recommended Standard 232 (RS-232) family of standards. Thewired configuration can provide bi-directional communication and alsopower up to 5V DC. In a wireless configuration, the communication link210 can be implemented as Bluetooth, Infrared Data Association (IrDA),radio-frequency (RF), cellular, or other suitable wireless communicationstandard as desired. The communication link 208 is connected to theprocessor 200 to transfer smoking topography data to the external deviceand/or the transfer configuration data to the processor 200. Thecommunication link 210 can be configured to allow for bidirectionalcommunication of user data, control data, and/or configuration databetween the STD 112 and an external device or processor. With regard tothe configuration and control data, the processor 200 can be configuredto be specially programmed and/or configured to execute a processrecorded on a non-transitory computer-readable recording medium, such asa hard disk drive, flash memory, optical memory or any other type ofnon-volatile memory as desired. The executable data for the processbeing transferrable or transferred to the processor 200 via thecommunication link 208.

In an exemplary embodiment, the STD 112 can be configured to include atleast one light emitting diode (LED) 218, which provides a visualindication to a user regarding an operational status of the EASD 100.For example, the LEDs can be visualized on an outer portion of thehousing 102 and provide a visual indication of a charging status of thebattery 202, the smoking status, or any other suitable operational orfunctional characteristic of the EASD 100 or STD 112 as desired. Itshould be understood, that the LED can be configured to emit anysuitable color, be in any suitable shape, or provide an output in anysuitable pattern as desired to provide the appropriate information tothe user.

The STD 112 can also include a key/switch circuit 220 that providessecure access to system/configuration data and/or smoking topographydata stored in the processor 200.

In another exemplary embodiment the STD 112 can include a circuitdebugger 222 that allows for resolving errors in the processingoperation of the processor 200 due to corrupted user data, configurationdata, or system data as needed.

The STD 112 can be formed on a multi-layer printed circuit board (PCB).The circuit board can be of a suitable size and length, such as 25 mm×8mm, so that it can be fully enclosed in the housing 102 of the EASD 100.

The STD 112 can be configured to include two modes of operation, whichinclude a Pre-Heat Mode and a Steady Smoking Mode.

When a user starts to smoke (e.g., a smoking event), the heating elementis initially cool. Therefore, the heating element 206 can specify tohave a full power supplied so that the temperature can be increased asfast as possible. Once the heater is pre-heated, the power supplied tothe heating element 206 can be scaled back. In an exemplary embodiment,a pulse-width modulated (PWM) pulse can be provided to the heater tomaintain constant power scheme can be used to maintain constant powerand temperature in order to extend the life of the heater. Parameters ofthe PWM pulse can be adjusted through an application interface of acomputer via the communication link 210 to select a desired power levelfor the Steady State Smoking Mode. For example, in an exemplaryembodiment in which the pulse width has a large duty cycle, the averageoutput power on the heater would also be larger. The time specified forcompleting a Pre-Heat Mode depends on the temperature of the heatingelement just prior to the start of the Pre-Heat Mode. The Pre-Heat timecan be adjusted by setting the value of a counter (Timer0), whichspecifies an idle time between two smoking events.

The communication link 210 can also be used to configure the STD 112,such that different voltage battery levels have different times forcompleting the Pre-Heat Mode and different PWM pulse values. In anexemplary embodiment, the battery voltage levels can be divided intofour ranges as follows: (1) 3.3V-3.5V, (2) 3.5V-3.7V, (3) 3.7V-3.9V, and(4) 3.9V-4.1V. Variable resistors on the PCB board of the STD 112 can betuned to control the voltage level used by the electronic cigarettedevice. In an exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure, differentpre-heat times can PWM pulse values can be set in the PC interface viathe communication link 210 to maintain a desired smoking quality at anyof a number of voltage levels. Because the PWM power in one voltagerange should be equal to the PWM power in another voltage range, onceparameters in a range (1) are determined, for example, the parameters ofthe other voltage ranges can be derived using the following:

$\begin{matrix}{P_{{PWN}{({1{st}\mspace{14mu}{voltage}\mspace{14mu}{range}})}} = P_{{PWN}{({2{nd}\mspace{14mu}{voltage}\mspace{14mu}{range}})}}} & (1) \\{P = \frac{V^{2}}{R}} & (2)\end{matrix}$where P is the power of the PWM pulse, V is the average voltage of thePWM pulse, and R is the resistance or value of the period of the PWMpulse.

The duration of the Idle Time is a factor in determining an optimalPre-Heat time. A longer idle time results in the heater being coolerjust prior to starting the Pre-heat Mode, which means that a longerpre-heat time should be specified.

FIG. 3 illustrates a method for generating smoking topography data inaccordance with an exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure. Asshown in FIG. 3, at step 300, when the STD 112 is powered on or reset,the system program is loaded from memory and initialized. Once thesystem program and/or configuration data is loaded from memory 214, theprocessor is provided with at least date information for the systemclock.

At step 302, and following system start, the idle time counter (Timer0)and the system clock (CLK) are initialized. Timer0 is set to Pre-HeatMode idle time set by the user, or is initialized to a default value.The processor also sets at least one general purpose input/output (GPIO)pin as an interrupt (INT) input. For example, in an exemplary embodimentthe processor 200 can have a pin (e.g., a Port C1) connected to anoutput of an air flow sensor. The air flow sensor can be configured todetect a change in the air flow based on a predetermined threshold. Thischange indicates that a user has engaged or disengaged the mouthpiece108 of the EASD 100 and initiated or stopped smoking sequence during apuff start event or puff release event, respectively. When the air flowsensor output is connected to a GPIO pin set as an interrupt (Int1), ahigh or flow sensor output causes the processor to generate interruptINT1.

At step 304, the processor 200 monitors the GPIO pin. If the GPIO pin islow then the sensor has not detected puff start event or flow. At step306, when no puff start event is detected, the Timer0 value is 0.1 s,then an interrupt for Timer0 is generated and at step 308, the Timer0value is incremented. Processing then returns to step 304 and continuesto monitor the GPIO pin for a puff start event.

When the air flow sensor output is high indicating a puff start event,then the interrupt INT1 is generated. Once the interrupt INT1 isgenerated, at step 310 the processor 200 captures a value of the batteryvoltage and records this value as the Start of Puff Cigarette BatteryVoltage Count (SPVC). The processor 200 also initiates a second counter(Timer1), which is used to measure the length of the puff or the timeinterval from the puff start event to the puff release event. Theprocessor 200 also collects and records a value of the system clock.

At step 312, the processor 200 monitors the GPIO pin connected to theairflow sensor 202. Specifically, the GPIO pin is monitored for a lowoutput, which means that the air flow sensor has detected that the airflow at the mouthpiece 108 has dropped below the predeterminedthreshold. A low output from the airflow sensor 202 is an indicationthat a puff release event has occurred. At step 314, when the GPIO pinmaintains a high value then the Timer1 is incremented and processingreturns to step 312 to again monitor the GPIO pin.

Returning to step 312, when the airflow sensor output is low (0), aninterrupt INT2 at the GPIO pin is generated. Upon the generation ofINT2, the processor 200 stops the Timer1 and records the value of theTimer1 as the Time of Event (TOE) or puff length (Step 316). Theprocessor 200 then starts a third counter (Timer2), which measures thepuff release length or the non-smoking time interval between the puffrelease event and a puff start event of the next smoking event. Theprocessor 200 collects the value of the battery voltage and records thisvalue as the End of Puff Battery Voltage Count (EPVC). The processor 200also collects and records a value of the system clock.

Processing continues at step 318, where the GPIO pin is again monitoredfor a high value indicating another puff start event. If no puff startevent is detected, at step 318 the processor 200 increments Timer2 by 1(step 320). If after incrementing, the value of Timer2 is above apredetermined value then the processor 200 will determine that nofurther puff events will occur and in order to conserve battery chargewill turn off the EASD 100 or go into a sleep mode (step 322). If thevalue of the Timer2 is otherwise below the threshold value, thenprocessing returns to step 316.

If at step 318, the processor 200 detects a next puff start event, thenthe value of the Timer2 is collected and recorded, and processingreturns to step 312.

FIG. 4 illustrates a data format and structure in accordance with anexemplary embodiment of the present disclosure.

As already discussed, the processor 200 collects numerous amounts ofdata related to the smoking topography through the use of registers andcounters, each having a specified bit resolutions. The collected data istransferred to memory 214, where it is recorded in a specified dataformat and structure. The data is recorded in a corresponding bitpattern such that each byte of data includes a number of bits assignedto at least one specified data value. The multi-byte data structurebeing stored in a hexadecimal format. As shown in FIG. 4, the dataformat can include multiple bytes, the first data byte (8 bits)including data values that specify the event number (EN), battery status(BS), and smoking status (SS). The second data byte can include a valuecorresponding to the SPVC value stoned in the SPVCREG. The third databyte can include EPVC value stored in the EPVCREG. A combination of thefourth and fifth data bytes can be used to record the time of countvalue as stored in the TOEREG value, and a portion of the fifth databyte along with the sixth through eighth can be used to record a valueof the system clock CLKREG. As shown, each data value has acorresponding bit resolution, however, it should be understood that thebit resolution for each data value can be adjusted as desired forsuitable monitoring of smoking topography in a specified implementation.

FIG. 5 illustrates an example of smoking topography data as recorded inmemory for a single smoking event in accordance with the exemplarymethod shown in FIG. 3 of the present disclosure. In the context of thisexample, the single smoking event includes one puff start event and puffrelease event pair. As shown in FIG. 5, for the single smoking event theprocessor 200 collected an SPVC value of 4.35V, and EPVC value of 3.75V,a TOE value of 1.3 seconds, and a system clock value of 1 hour.Moreover, the battery status was identified as normal (>3V) and thesmoking status identified as a puff status (10). The foregoing data canbe recorded in a hexadecimal format and output at a value of 29 E0 6D 0228 00 0E 10.

FIG. 6 illustrates an example of smoking topography data recorded inmemory 214 for consecutive smoking events in accordance with theexemplary method illustrated in FIG. 3 of the present disclosure. In thecontext of this example, consecutive smoking events include multiple andconsecutive puff start and puff release event pairs. As shown in FIG. 6,for the first smoking event the processor 200 collected an SPVC value of4.35V, and EPVC value of 3.75V, a TOE value of 1.3 seconds, and a systemclock value of 1 hour. Moreover, the battery status was identified asnormal (>3V) and the smoking status identified as a puff status (10).The data of the first smoking event is recorded in a hexadecimal formatand output at a value of 29 E0 6D 02 28 00 0E 10.

For the second smoking event, the processor 200 collected an SPVC valueof 6V, and EPVC value of 6V, a TOE value of 0.93 seconds, and a systemclock value of 1 hour 1 second. Moreover, the battery status wasidentified as normal (>3V) and the smoking status identified as a puffrelease status (01). The data of the second smoking event can berecorded in a hexadecimal format and output at a value of 64 00 00 01 740 0E 11. For the third smoking event, the processor 200 collected anSPVC value of 4.15V, and EPVC value of 3.85V, a TOE value of 1.88seconds, and a system clock value of 1 hour 3 seconds. Moreover, thebattery status was identified as normal (>3V) and the smoking statusidentified as a puff status (10). The data of the third smoking eventcan be recorded in a hexadecimal format and output at a value of 69 C96F 02 F0 00 0E 13.

The teachings herein are applicable to all forms of electronic smokingarticles, such as electronic cigarettes, cigars, pipes, hookas, andother smoking articles as desired, regardless of their size and shape.

While the disclosure has been illustrated and described in detail in thedrawings and foregoing description, such illustration and descriptionare to be considered illustrative or exemplary and not restrictive; thedisclosure is not limited to the disclosed exemplary embodiments. Othervariations to the disclosed exemplary embodiments can be understood andeffected by those skilled in the art and practicing the claimeddisclosure, from a study of the drawings, the disclosure, and theappended claims. In the claims, the word “comprising” does not excludeother elements or steps, and the indefinite article “a” or “an” does notexclude a plurality. The mere fact that certain measures are recited inmutually different dependent claims does not indicate that a combinationof these measures cannot be used to advantage. Any reference symbols inthe claims should not be construed as limiting the scope.

Thus, it will be appreciated by those skilled in the art that thepresent disclosure can be embodied in other specific forms withoutdeparting from the spirit or essential characteristics thereof. Thepresently disclosed embodiments are therefore considered in all respectsto be illustrative and not restricted. The scope of the disclosure isindicated by the appended claims rather than the foregoing descriptionand all changes that come within the meaning and range and equivalencethereof are intended to be embraced therein.

What is claimed is:
 1. An electronic vaping article, comprising: anaerosol-forming substrate; a heating element configured to heat theaerosol-forming substrate to form an aerosol; a battery configured tosupply power to the heating element to cause the heating element togenerate heat; an air flow sensor configured to generate an output basedon measuring a magnitude of an air flowrate through at least a portionof the electronic vaping article; a processor configured to detect astart event and an end event of a user interaction with the electronicvaping article based on the output of the air flow sensor and athreshold magnitude value, capture battery voltage data indicating ashift in a voltage of the battery associated with the user interactionbased on capturing a start value of the voltage of the battery inresponse to detection of the start event, capturing an end value of thevoltage of the battery in response to detection of the end event, anddetermining the shift in the voltage of the battery associated with theuser interaction as a difference between the start value and the endvalue, and arrange the battery voltage data in a data pattern thatdefines the user interaction with the electronic vaping article by atleast the shift in the voltage of the battery such that the start valueand the end value are associated with a first interaction event numberand an indication that the first interaction event number corresponds toa first data set type in the data pattern, the first data set typerepresenting a user interaction with the electronic vaping article; anda memory configured to store the data pattern in a structured multi-byteformat.
 2. The electronic vaping article of claim 1, wherein theprocessor includes a timer configured to be initiated in response todetection of the start event and stopped in response to detection of theend event to obtain a vaping time interval, and the processor isconfigured to collect a value of the vaping time interval and record thevalue in the data pattern in association with the first interactionevent number as a length of the user interaction with the electronicvaping article.
 3. The electronic vaping article of claim 1, wherein theelectronic vaping article includes a plurality of sensors including theair flow sensor, the plurality of sensors configured to measure thevoltage of the battery in response to detection of the start event anddetection of the end event.
 4. The electronic vaping article of claim 1,wherein the first interaction event number is one of a plurality ofinteraction event numbers recorded in the data pattern and correspondingto the first data set type representing a respective user interactionwith the electronic vaping article, for each respective interactionevent number among the plurality of interaction event numbers theprocessor is configured to record in the data pattern in associationwith the respective interaction event number an interaction status ofthe battery indicating whether an interaction voltage of the batteryassociated with the respective user interaction exceeds a thresholdbattery voltage, the indication that the respective interaction eventnumber corresponds to the first data set type, the start value of thevoltage of the battery, the end value of the voltage of the battery, atime interval of the respective user interaction with the electronicvaping article, and a value of a system clock included in the electronicvaping article, and wherein for each respective non-interaction eventnumber among a plurality of non-interaction event numbers recorded inthe data pattern and corresponding to a second data set typerepresenting a respective user non-interaction with the electronicvaping article the processor is configured to record in the data patternin association with the respective non-interaction event number anon-interaction status of the battery indicating whether anon-interaction voltage of the battery associated with the respectiveuser non-interaction exceeds the threshold battery voltage, anindication that the respective non-interaction event number correspondsto the second data set type, a null start value of the voltage of thebattery, a null end value of the voltage of the battery, a non-vapingtime interval between an end of a first user interaction with theelectronic vaping article and a start of a second user interaction withthe electronic vaping article, and the value of the system clock.
 5. Theelectronic vaping article of claim 4, wherein the processor includes afirst timer configured to measure a length of each user interaction withthe electronic vaping article, and a second timer configured to measurea duration between the first and second user interactions with theelectronic vaping article.
 6. The electronic vaping article of claim 1,further comprising: a plurality of sensors including the air flowsensor, the plurality of sensors configured to measure the voltage ofthe battery, the processor being configured to collect a value of thevoltage of the battery from the plurality of sensors, and determine aninteraction status of the battery.
 7. The electronic vaping article ofclaim 1, wherein the processor is configured to collect data indicatinga start of the user interaction with the electronic vaping article andan end of the user interaction with the electronic vaping article fromsaid air flow sensor and determine a vaping status.
 8. The electronicvaping article of claim 7, wherein for the data set generated uponoccurrence of the start of the user interaction with the electronicvaping article, the processor is configured to determine that the vapingstatus is a vaping puff status, and include the indication that thefirst indication event number corresponds to the first data set type ina data set in the data pattern associated with the first interactionevent number.
 9. The electronic vaping article of claim 7, wherein uponan occurrence of consecutive user interactions with the electronicvaping article, for the data set generated upon occurrence of the end ofa first user interaction with the electronic vaping article, theprocessor is configured to determine that the vaping status is a puffrelease status, and include an indication that a first non-interactionevent number corresponds to a second data set type in a data set in thedata pattern associated with the first non-interaction event number, thesecond data set type representing a user non-interaction with theelectronic vaping article.
 10. The electronic vaping article of claim 1,wherein the processor is configured to output a data set associated withthe first interaction event number in the data pattern in a hexadecimalformat.
 11. The electronic vaping article of claim 1, furthercomprising: an interface for connecting the processor to an externaldevice.
 12. The electronic vaping article of claim 1, wherein theprocessor includes a system clock, and a value of the system clock isrecorded in association with the first interaction event number.
 13. Avaping topography circuit of an electronic vaping article, the vapingtopography circuit comprising: an air flow sensor configured to detectuser interaction with the electronic vaping article based on measuring amagnitude of an air flowrate through at least a portion of theelectronic vaping article; a heating element configured to heat anaerosol-forming substrate to form an aerosol; a battery configured tosupply power to the heating element to cause the heating element togenerate heat; a processor configured to detect a start event and an endevent of the user interaction with the electronic vaping article basedon an output of the air flow sensor and a threshold magnitude value,capture battery voltage data indicating a shift in a voltage of thebattery associated with the user interaction based on capturing a startvalue of the voltage of the battery in response to detection of thestart event, capturing an end value of the voltage of the battery inresponse to detection of the end event, and determining the shift in thevoltage of the battery associated with the user interaction as adifference between the start value and the end value, and arrange thebattery voltage data in a data pattern that defines the user interactionwith the electronic vaping article by at least the shift in the voltageof the battery such that the start value and the end value areassociated with a first interaction event number and an indication thatthe first interaction event number corresponds to a first data set typein the data pattern, the first data set type representing a userinteraction with the electronic vaping article; and a memory configuredto record the data pattern in a structured format.
 14. The vapingtopography circuit of claim 13, wherein the processor includes a timerconfigured to be initiated in response to detection of the start eventand stopped in response to detection of the end event, wherein a valueof the timer at the end of the user interaction with the electronicvaping article is recorded in the data pattern in association with thefirst interaction event number as a length of the user interaction withthe electronic vaping article.
 15. The vaping topography circuit ofclaim 13, wherein the first interaction event number is one of aplurality of interaction event numbers recorded in the data pattern andcorresponding to the first data set type representing a respective userinteraction with the electronic vaping article, for each respectiveinteraction event number among the plurality of interaction eventnumbers the processor is configured to record in the data pattern inassociation with the respective interaction event number representingthe respective user interaction with the electronic vaping article atleast the start value of the voltage of the battery associated with therespective user interaction, the end value of the voltage of the batteryassociated with the respective user interaction, an interaction statusof the battery indicating whether an interaction voltage of the batteryassociated with the respective user interaction exceeds a thresholdbattery voltage, and a length of the respective user interaction withthe electronic vaping article, and wherein for each respectivenon-interaction event number among a plurality of non-interaction eventnumbers recorded in the data pattern and corresponding to a second dataset type representing a user non-interaction with the electronic vapingarticle the processor is configured to record in the data pattern inassociation with the respective non-interaction event number at least aduration between consecutive user interactions with the electronicvaping article.
 16. The vaping topography circuit of claim 15, whereinthe processor includes a first timer configured to measure the length ofthe user interaction with the electronic vaping article; and a secondtimer configured to measure the duration between the consecutive userinteractions with the electronic vaping article.
 17. The vapingtopography circuit of claim 13, wherein the processor is configured togenerate a first interrupt based upon a first output of the air flowsensor corresponding to detection of the start event, and generate asecond interrupt upon a second output of the air flow sensorcorresponding to detection of the end event, and wherein the processoris configured to determine a vaping status of the electronic vapingarticle based on the start event and the end event.
 18. The vapingtopography circuit of claim 17, wherein upon generation of the firstinterrupt, the processor is configured to determine that the vapingstatus of the electronic vaping article is a vaping puff status, andrecord the indication that the first indication event number correspondsto the first data set type in a data set in the data pattern associatedwith the first interaction event number.
 19. The vaping topographycircuit of claim 17, wherein upon generation of the second interrupt,the processor is configured to determine that the vaping status of theelectronic vaping article is a puff release status, and record anindication that a first non-interaction event number corresponds to asecond data set type in a data set in the data pattern associated withthe first non-interaction event number, the second data set typerepresenting a user non-interaction with the electronic vaping article.20. The vaping topography circuit of claim 13, wherein the processorincludes an analog-to-digital converter configured to convert analogdata received from the air flow sensor to digital data.
 21. A method ofgenerating vaping topography data for an electronic vaping article, theelectronic vaping article including at least an aerosol generatorincluding a heating element configured to heat an aerosol-formingsubstrate to form an aerosol, a battery configured to supply power tothe heating element to cause the heating element to generate heat, andan air flow sensor configured to generate an output based on measuring amagnitude of an air flowrate through at least a portion of theelectronic vaping article, the method comprising: determining anoccurrence of a start event of a first user interaction with theelectronic vaping article based on the output of the air flow sensor anda threshold magnitude value; capturing first start battery voltage dataindicating a voltage of the battery at the start event in response tothe determining the occurrence of the start event; determining anoccurrence of an end event of the first user interaction with theelectronic vaping article based on the output of the air flow sensor andthe threshold magnitude value; capturing first end battery voltage dataindicating a voltage of the battery at the end event in response to thedetermining the occurrence of the end event; determining a shift in thevoltage of the battery associated with the first user interaction as adifference between the first end battery voltage data and the firststart battery voltage data; and generating a data structure that definesthe first user interaction with the electronic vaping article withrespect to the shift in the voltage of the battery between the startevent and the end event such that the first start battery voltage dataand the first end battery voltage data are associated with a firstinteraction event number and an indication that the first interactionevent number corresponds to a first data set type in the data structure,the first data set type representing a user interaction with theelectronic vaping article.
 22. The method of claim 21, wherein the firstuser interaction with the electronic vaping article includes a puffstart event followed by a puff release event.
 23. The method of claim22, further comprising: generating a first interrupt when the puff startevent is detected; and starting a first timer upon generation of thefirst interrupt to measure a length of the first user interaction withthe electronic vaping article.
 24. The method of claim 23, furthercomprising: generating a second interrupt when the puff release event isdetected; stopping the first timer upon generation of the secondinterrupt; and starting a second timer upon generation of the secondinterrupt to measure a duration until a next puff start event.
 25. Themethod of claim 24, further comprising: storing the captured first startbattery voltage data and first end battery voltage data, an interactionstatus of the battery indicating whether an interaction voltage of thebattery associated with the respective user interaction exceeds athreshold battery voltage, and values for the first and second timers,in association with the first interaction event number in a structuredformat in a non-volatile memory.
 26. The method of claim 21, at power onor reset, comprising: loading system programming stored in memory to aprocessor; and initializing the system programming in the processor. 27.The method of claim 26, the method further comprising: starting a firsttimer when the system programming is initialized in the processor for apre-heat mode; and setting, in the processor, at least one sensor portas an interrupt.
 28. The method of claim 21, wherein first interactionevent number is one of a plurality of interaction event numbers includedin the data structure, the data structure including at least secondstart battery voltage data and second end battery voltage data inassociation with a second interaction event number among the pluralityof interaction event numbers corresponding to a second user interactionwith the electronic vaping article, and the data structure includes aduration between user interactions with the electronic vaping article asan event length in association with a non-interaction event number. 29.The method of claim 21, further comprising: optimizing at least onefunction of the electronic vaping article based on data included in thedata structure.
 30. The method of claim 29, wherein the optimizingincludes configuring at least one of, a pulse-width modulation (PWM)pulse provided to the heating element, and a duration during which theheating element receives full power in a pre-heat mode.